


Swim With the Dolphins

by SunGreen70



Category: Whose Line Is It Anyway? RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 04:59:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1213591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunGreen70/pseuds/SunGreen70
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since he was a kid, Colin had loved dolphins. Originally posted to LiveJournal, November 2012.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swim With the Dolphins

Ever since he was a kid, Colin had loved dolphins.

Sailing from Scotland to Canada on a giant ocean liner, he’d been standing on deck under a blazing sun watching the topaz-colored water, when he noticed a shadow gliding below the surface. Leaning over for a closer look, Colin was startled when the water suddenly seemed to explode, showering him with icy drops as a silvery-gray dolphin burst through the waves and immediately plunged back down into the ocean’s depths. Before Colin could even raise a hand to wipe the salt water from his face, the dolphin was followed by another one, and another and another, diving and surfacing in perfect synch. Colin forgot about his soaked clothing and watched, transfixed, as the creatures bobbed and danced through the waves in a graceful water ballet. They were so magnificent, and radiated such joy as they swam and played that Colin yearned to join them. He even unconsciously stepped up onto the lower rung of the railing before he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers attracted by the high pitched squeals of the dolphins, and remembered where he was. Sheepishly, he stepped down and resigned himself to merely watching, staring after the dolphins with an odd sense of longing as they disappeared from view.

He told Ryan about it in one of their earliest conversations. Not one of _the_ earliest conversations they’d had, but one of _their_ earliest conversations. The kind that took place when they went off by themselves, while the rest of the Vancouver Theatre Sports League players crowded into some noisy bar to blow their earnings on cheap beer. They’d seek out a different bar, blocks away, where the beer was just as cheap but the atmosphere was more private. They’d sit and talk far into the night, meandering from one topic to another as it caught their fancy.

Ryan had grinned at him when he’d finished his story. “That’s cool, Col.” But other than that, he didn’t comment, and Colin supposed it was simply the kind of thing that would never seem as fascinating to someone else.

Until a month or so later, when Ryan pressed a small paper bag into his hand. “Here. I got you this,” was the only thing he said in preamble. Colin opened the bag and drew out a small figurine. It wasn’t elaborately detailed; really it was just barely the right shape, but it was unmistakably a dolphin made of opaque blue glass, frozen in a graceful dive. Colin turned it over in his hands in surprise, before looking questioningly at Ryan. Ryan shrugged, embarrassed.

“When I went home for my mom’s birthday, we took her to the glass factory. They did a demonstration on how they melt down glass and then blow it into stuff. Dishes and vases mostly, but things like that too.” He nodded at the dolphin in Colin’s hand. “My dad bought my mother a set of wine glasses. But anyway, I saw that, and it made me think of you. You know, the boat,” he added unnecessarily.

“Wow, Ryan…” Colin looked down at the dolphin again, running a finger over its smooth, cool surface. “Thank you.” He hesitated, then put his arms around Ryan in a brief hug. Hugging wasn’t something they did, not at that point in their friendship. Ryan stiffened slightly, but returned the embrace before quickly dropping his arms and changing the subject to where they were going to go for a beer after the show.

Later that night, Colin set the dolphin carefully on his bedside table and lay on his side, watching how the blown glass caught the moonlight and cast colored patterns on the sheets like a prism.

******

Ryan’s next dolphin themed gift came nearly a year later. It was their first Valentine’s Day together. Money was tight. They’d agreed: no gifts. At least not ones you could purchase in a store. Gifts that could be presented to one another in bed, well, those were okay. Afterward they lay panting for breath, snuggled together, until Ryan sat up with a start. “I almost forgot,” he said, leaning over the side of the bed and emerging with a small, flat gift-wrapped box. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Col.”

“We agreed, no presents,” Colin objected. Ryan waved him off.

“I got this before we said that. And then I was going to save it for your birthday, but that’s too far off. Besides,” he added, as Colin made no move to take the package, “it’s no big deal. I got it at the dollar store.”

Colin took the box. It was wrapped in leftover Christmas paper, secured with yards of Scotch tape. Inside was a cheap necktie, patterned with – dolphins. His laughter was cut off by Ryan’s lips coming down on his. The second time they made love that night, they did so with the tie knotted neatly about Colin’s neck. He continued to wear the tie – and only the tie – afterwards as they went back out to the living room to drink wine and watch the video they’d rented. But the opening credits had barely finished rolling before Colin’s attire got to be too much for Ryan. They spent the rest of the movie entangled on the floor, and missed the entire plot.

It became tradition. Every birthday, Christmas, anniversary, and Valentine’s Day brought with it at least one dolphin from Ryan. Silver cuff links. Boxer shorts. The plush dolphin that had sat precariously balanced for years on the edge of the dresser mirror. Once, shortly after _Whose Line_ was picked up by ABC, a dolphin of Swarovski crystal with diamond eyes, purchased simply because Ryan could afford it. Every one of the dolphins had a place of honor somewhere in their home. And the very first, the blue glass one, accompanied Colin on all their trips to England and New York to film the UK version of _Whose Line_ , and later, to theaters across the States and Canada during various improv tours. They took pictures of it, posed within the line of sight of some landmark. They kept a manila envelope full of snapshots of the glass dolphin in front of Big Ben, the World Trade Center, even the Eiffel Tower. Later, there was a folder on the computer with more pictures, taken with a digital camera. Colin sometimes talked about scanning the older photos, but he never got around to doing it.

  
******

The sun glinted off the crystal blue water, reflecting into Ryan’s eyes as he squinted into the waves. The dolphin swim area was closed this early in the morning, and the water looked empty. Maybe they kept the dolphins penned up somewhere else until then. Ryan stared out over the water, remembering their trip here for Colin’s fortieth birthday.

_“Come on!” Colin urged again, pausing on the end of the dock, though his body was tensed with eagerness. Ryan smiled. Colin looked like a little kid waiting to tear into the presents on Christmas morning._

_“No,” he demurred, eyeing the sleek backs of the dolphins bobbing through the surf. “You go.” When he’d planned this trip, he’d assumed he would join Colin in the water, but up close the dolphins looked a lot bigger than they did on TV, and the idea of swimming with them had suddenly seemed a lot less appealing._

_“It’ll be fun,” Colin pressed. Ryan shook his head._

_“I already got on a plane. Do I really need to do any more to prove my love?” He was joking, mostly, but Colin paused and studied him closely for a moment._

_“All right, Ry.” He reached up and squeezed Ryan’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. You brought me here. It’s still the best gift anyone ever gave me. And I love you.” The kiss that followed put a smile on Ryan’s face, one that grew ever wider as he watched Colin jump into the water and dive in and out of the surf alongside the dolphins. Colin’s face was joyful, his body surprisingly graceful as he swam with the creatures he loved so much, looking for all the world like one of them. It was a long time before he finally climbed out of the water, lips blue with cold, and even then he stood shivering under his towel on the edge of the dock, watching the dolphins until Ryan urged him back to the hotel room to dry off and get dressed._

Now, Ryan wished he had summoned up the nerve to join him.

Ryan bent down and unzipped the backpack at his feet. He removed the heavy wooden box, holding it tight in his hands for a long moment. He ran his thumbs over the finely grained surface of the lid, before he set it down gently on the railing and opened it. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the contents, and he quickly trained his gaze out over the water again. Just as he did so, the sun glinted off of something just below the surface. He squinted, peered closer. Then with a sudden burst, a lone dolphin broke through the clear blue water and just as quickly dove back down below, leaving a rippling wake.

“Guess that’s a sign, huh?” Without meaning to, Ryan spoke aloud. He forced himself to look inside the box as he lifted it up with trembling hands.

“Here you go, Col,” he whispered. “Swim with the dolphins.” He turned the box over and watched the ashes rain down. His eyes filled with tears, blurring the sight of ash being churned into the surf. Groping in his pocket for a tissue, his hand met something solid. It was the blown glass dolphin, the very first gift he’d given Colin so many years ago. Ryan’s fingers closed around the smooth, cool glass.

“Look who I brought,” he murmured to the water. “He’ll keep you company.” Opening his fist, he hurled the glass dolphin as hard as he could. It sank immediately upon hitting the water, disappearing from view even as bits of ash continued to swirl on the surface. As Ryan watched, the dolphin – the real one – broke through the waves once more and then dove back down near the spot where the figurine had gone under.

Swimming forever with the dolphins.


End file.
